The golden-hearted referee of San Francisco

It’s the final game of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s Junior Warriors 8th grade girls basketball league. The SOMA Stars and the Lady Hurricanes take their positions on the court. A tall, wiry man – the referee – steps to the center. He looks at all the girls, smiles, and tosses the ball straight up in the air. Two girls jump for it, and the game is on.

This isn’t where Cardell Butler expected to be right now, shortly before his 35th birthday. He could have been playing pro ball before thousands of fans in Europe, or the NBA’s developmental league. Maybe still could.

“I still can play at a high level,” he says. “I still can play NBA professional basketball.”

Instead he’s here, at St. Mary’s Rec Center in Bernal Heights. This is the fourth championship game in a row Cardell has refereed, today. The youngest kids started at 9 a.m. Now it’s 3 p.m., and Cardell hasn’t had lunch. That’s all right. This is where he wants to be.

“He’s very loving,” says Lady Hurricane player Nicole Marie Coleman. “He knows how to work with kids very good. And he gets where you’re coming from.”

Her teammate Diamond Carter adds, “I think he’s a good ref. He corrects your mistakes so you don’t do it the next time.”

Really, you pretty much never hear talk like that about a referee. But Cardell makes the games fun. He’s joyful. He’s nurturing. He’s the kind of guy you want teaching your kids.

“Working with the kids, girls and boys,” he says, “there’s going to be that one kid who’s going to remember everything from the Rec and Park Department. Everything that’s ever done. And I know this for sure because I’m one of those kids.”